5 Broken Cameras
2013UNRATED

Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature. An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 BROKEN CAMERAS is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I just saw the film recently, and was struck by how it uses a simple story of broken cameras to show how time passes for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Slowly and painfully, with injustice heaped upon injustice, yet they keep trying to raise their children with dignity. Very moving.

My only criticism is that the subtitles are often hard to read. An easy fix.

The 2011 documentary FIVE BROKEN CAMERAS comes to us through the lens of Palestinian family man-filmmaker Emad Burnat. A chronicle of life in Israel-occupied Bil'in in the West Bank, Burnat goes through five movie cameras in six-odd years, each destroyed one by one by occupation forces.

As we see in FIVE BROKEN CAMERAS, Burnat's cameras suffer the least of it compared to human life lost as Palestinians demonstrate against Israeli settlement construction in Bil'in. This proves a documentary by coincidence, as Burnat only obtains the first of what would be five movie cameras when the youngest of his four children is born in 2005. But what a coincidence. When you hear the first words of that youngest child, you have to ask why any should have to grow up in what is essentially an endless war zone.

We watched this at a local film festival and I intend to buy a copy for groups that I work with also. It is bound to rile up emotions, the truth always does. I hope it touches enough people that they will join with all member of AUPHR and Jewish Voice for PEace. Please consider volunteering in October for the olive harvest. Learn in person.

5 Broken Cameras is a vital resource for anyone trying to understand the tragically undertold story of the Palestinian side of the conflict as opposed to the ubiquituous and disingenuous Israeli narrative we know so well in the West. Here we see the life of a young Palestinian boy growing up in the immense shadow of land theft and brutal occupation by the Israelis, a life unrecognizable in its misery when viewed from the comfort of an American lens of perspective. The bravery and resilience of the residents of Bi'lin in the face of unimaginable brurtality by their neighbors cannot be overemphasized. A must see!